Following the simulated game, Pettitte said he felt great and could give the team “60, 65 pitches.”

“I’m ready,” he said. “Can I give you 100 pitches? No, but I feel like my stuff has been crisp. If they want me to do this, then I want to get back in there. I’m comfortable with doing that.”

Yankees teammate Ivan Nova is all set to return. Nova, out since Aug. 21 with inflammation in his right rotator cuff, will start Saturday at home against Tampa Bay, bumping Freddy Garcia to the bullpen.

“I did everything I needed to do,” he said. “It’s another step. They felt like my stuff was great and I feel great. My leg’s feeling great.”

While he’s been sidelined, Pettitte has watched his team’s 10-game lead in the division vanish. New York sits a half-game behind Baltimore for first place heading into its series finale against the Red Sox on Thursday.

“You know we had a big lead and the lead’s gone,” he said. “You want to embrace it. You don’t want to be scared of the situation. It’s exciting. Do you want to fail? No. But you can’t be scared of failure, that’s for sure.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the only way Pettitte would be back with the team would be as a starter, knocking down any thought of him making relief appearances.

“He means a lot to this club,” Girardi said. “We’ve seen that. We saw that a lot the first time. We went on quite a roll.”

Pettitte had a setback in July during his rehabilitation.

After ending a one-year retirement in March, he is 3-3 with a 3.22 ERA in nine starts this season. The three-time All-Star is baseball’s career leader in postseason wins (19) and starts (42).

How much of a boost do you predict Pettitte will give the Yanks down the stretch? Let us know in the comments section below…

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)